Refreshment from Adam and Eve

Genesis 3:8–24 KJV 1900

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Introduction

Define Refresh.

Rest

Relief

Re-energize

Give care to...

Explain series.

Stories of people in the Bible who experienced the same refreshment from God that we can experience.

Emphasize the impact of the gospel on people from the Old and New Testaments.

This doesn’t start out as a very refreshing story.

In fact, it may be one of the most depressing moments to think about in human history.

Every pain and evil that we despise about this world stems from what took place in this chapter.

God had placed His new creation, in a perfect environment.

Man was created positively holy.

He did not tend towards evil.

He tended towards good.

For man to sin, he would have to act against the good nature that God had given him.

Unfortunately that is exactly what happened.

Paul gives us a commentary of what exactly happened.

1 Timothy 2:14 KJV 1900

14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Eve was deceived by the temptation of Satan.

She was convinced to believe a lie.

Adam, however, was not deceived.

He chose to disobey God for a simple reason.

He loved his wife more than he loved God.

Neither one of them trusted God.

Eve didn’t trust that God knew what was best for her in withholding the fruit of the tree.

Adam didn’t trust that God was enough for him even if he lost his wife.

Human failure abounds in this story.

But then, God enters the garden.

We know how Adam and Eve try to hide themselves.

They try to hide their nakedness.

They try to conceal their location from their offended creator.

It is here that we get our first taste of refreshment.

Don’t we all know that while Satan was tempting Eve, God was there?

Don’t we know that when Eve took the fruit and gave it to Adam, God was there.

He not only saw their actions, but He also saw their hearts and minds.

He heard their thoughts of doubt and suspicion of Him and His motives.

He had only ever done good to them, and yet they sinned against Him.

Despite knowing all that had occurred that day, God still manifested His presence in the garden on that day.

There are an infinite number of ways that God could have reacted to Adam and Eve’s rebellion.

He could have melted the planet.

He could have slowly scattered their molecules into the emptiness of space.

He could have just abandoned them and never revealed himself to mankind again.

But, he didn’t do any of those things.

Genesis 3:8 “8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.”

He came down to the garden just as he had hundreds or thousands of times before to visit with His most special creation.

Even though God knew what Adam had done, God upheld His end of the relationship.

God was the offended party.

It was not God that hid Himself from man.

It was, in fact the other way around.

While Adam and Eve tried to hide from God, He pursued them.

Genesis 3:9 “9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”

God knew where Adam was.

He gave Adam an opportunity to respond to Him.

Of course, Adam did respond, and a conversation ensued.

In verses 10-19 we watch the back and forth that occurs between God and His rebellious creation.

We are familiar with the excuses.

Adam blames the woman and God.

Eve blames the serpent.

As God begins to explain the consequences of their actions, we see that there is cause for comfort.

Humanity’s “beguiler” is addressed first.

Satan is informed of his eventual, inevitable destruction.

It is a blessing that mankind fell due to the temptation of an outside source.

This opens up the possibility of redemption.

This is certainly what God is referring to in the first prophecy of a coming Savior.

Satan had targeted humanity for corruption.

His hatred for God was so intense that he sought out God’s most special creation and sought to turn us against our creator.

Satan knows he has no power over God so went after the one being that God created to carry His image in the earth.

Despite his best efforts and temporary semblances of success, God pronounces His certain destruction.

This is refreshing for all lovers of justice.

As Adam and Eve receive their punishments, we must not overlook the mercies that are displayed by God.

First, you may recall God’s words in Genesis 2:17 “17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

There is a depth to this statement that I would be happy to discuss with anyone at a later time.

The death that God spoke of in chapter 2 was both instant and gradual.

Spiritually, it was instantaneous.

Physically, it began a process that would result in death.

We firmly assert that we believe that all life has value don’t we?

Even as we read about the difficulties that would now characterize human life, do we see a refreshing truth?

Even though they didn’t deserve it, God allowed Adam and Eve to continue living in the world that He had created.

Though childbirth would now be difficult, humanity would still get to experience the joy of welcoming new life into the world.

Though work would now be toilsome, humanity would still get to enjoy the fruits of their labor and the satisfaction of exertion.

It is refreshing to see that, even in judgment, God is merciful and good to us.

Finally, we see God’s concern for the protection and provision for fallen man.

God provided for Adam and Eve by making them coats of skin.

Because of their sin, God went and killed multiple other created beings.

Their blood was sacrificed to provide a covering for Adam and Eve.

This is a refreshing reminder of God’s provision.

God was also concerned for Adam and eve’s protection, which is why He expelled them from the garden.

How was this a means of protecting them?

Well, if you look at verse 22, you will see why God did this to protect us.

In the garden there was also the tree of life.

God did not want humans to be able to eat of the tree of life in their fallen condition.

Some commentators believe that had this happened, man would have been forever locked into his fallen state.

Essentially it would have made them unredeemable.

God was not willing to allow this to be a possibility.

I thought for a second in my office, what if God had let them stay in the garden and had just told them not to eat the tree of life?

How do you think that would have worked?

It wouldn’t have worked.

God had to evict them for their own safety.

He even placed a an angel at the entrance to keep them from coming back.

The story of man’s fall and punishment is one of the darkest moments in history.

Even in the worst of moments there are refreshing aspects to which we can point.

It’s not found in man’s actions.

It’s not found in his attempts to cover himself or hide from God.

It’s not found in his failure to accept responsibility by shifting the blame.

Instead, every source of refreshment that we see in this story emanates from God.

Coming to the garden.

Seeking out Adam.

Promising to provide a solution to the mess Adam had made.

Exercising mercy even in judgment.

Demonstrating His ongoing protection and provision for Adam and Eve after the fall.